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To PPS on 11-21-05
From: Mark Rauterkus, Mark@Rauterkus.com * Candidate for Pittsburgh City Council, District 3, (special election expected in early 2006) * cell = 412 298 3432 To: Fellow Citizens of Pittsburgh November 21, 2005 I care greatly and want to make positive impacts! I have a number of concerns about our city and our schools. I care a great deal about our schools and their interaction among our communities. I hope to serve the residents of the city as a dynamic leader on City Council who is known to put kids at the top of the priority list. My two sons go to public schools. I coach and have been in many school settings. RAND and PPS must build trust by publishing all the data and formulas for all to see. Trust is suspect with reports. But trust and confidence can soar, after the data is published. Peer review is powerful. Open source ways are invincible. The data on schools and the logic in the formulas need to be published on the web. A robust and visible job-ticketing system should document all comments from citizens. This would lead to a valid change log to display tinkering from administrators. All requests for features and changes should be automated by the district. One citizens' comments should be documented for all to see. If a job-ticket process was deployed, then the district would be able to make replies to all issues. Outstanding issues and suggestions would be visible. Versions and evolutions of the major plan need to be made. A problem for one might be a feature for another. Statements from the administration should be charted on each matter. A change log is needed to clearly document the 'tinkering' with the plan by the administrators. Perhaps some changes are needed for next year. Closed School Buildings have serious implications for our neighborhoods. We must think again about those interactions. Schools in neighborhoods that are in transition or are in great decline need to be given the highest priorities for re-use. The overall approach to the liquidation of the various buildings must be put into a holistic plan for the good of all the city and region. We run the risk of the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer if the wrong course is charted in the months and years to come. The building and land opportunities at some places, such as Schenley High School, South Vo Tech and even (perhaps) Connelly Tech are prime. A quick sell off of those assets might saturate the market and then other, more complicated, more deserving projects won't ever have a hope of getting completed. Beltzhoover, Arlington, Hazelwood and other areas of the city need new investments and new energy to enter more than a place such as the South Side. The school district and the city need to invest a lot of attention to these details and establish a reasoned philosophy. Jobs, community needs and the stability of neighborhoods have to be factored into the discussions. I would love to play a leadership role in these efforts, and as a city council representative, I'd embrace this challenge. Peabody and Westinghouse could be turned into single gender High Schools. Central Catholic and Oakland Catholic are private, single-gender schools that do well in academics. The trend to single-gender schools shows great promise. Getting families more choices for their students, such as single-gender public-school, might make fantastic sense. Girls and boys from throughout the city who desire single-gender schools could attend, while those who want a co-ed setting could still attend the other schools. Teams within the city need to migrate to the WPIAL. After school activities, recreation, community use of our public buildings and the interscholastic elements within our schools in the city need a major overhaul. Our kids are not getting the same chances to excel as their suburban counterparts. Boosters, coaching, schedules and sportsmanship need increased attention. Volunteers are kept at arms-length in the city as well. Much more can be done. The best way to advance the system is to have the city kids play, day-in and day-out, against the suburban schools within the WPIAL. The Pgh budget, not PPS, should pay for Crossing Guards, as the policy had been before Murphy's crisis. School resources needs to focus on reading, math and history, not sidewalk patrols in neighborhoods. Links * Schools * Education